O velho sob o olhar da imprensa: discursos e representações sobre Luiz Carlos Prestes no Diário de Notícias e Correio Riograndense (1941-1964).

Abstract

This Undergraduate Thesis analyzes the representations and discourses constructed about Luiz Carlos Prestes by the press of Rio Grande do Sul, specifically in the newspapers Diário de Notícias and Correio Riograndense, between the years 1941 and 1964. The research investigates how the trajectory of the communist leader was portrayed in different political contexts, from the "Estado Novo" to the eve of the 1964 civil-military coup. Based on the perspective of Cultural History and the concepts of representation and "struggles of representation" by Roger Chartier, this study understands the newspaper not only as a source but as a political agent endowed with intentionalities. The methodology consisted of documentary and bibliographic research, with the collection of primary sources through the Digital Hemeroteca of the National Library. The analysis evidences that the periodicals utilized distinct discursive strategies: while Diário de Notícias focused on the threat to the institutional order, Correio Riograndense, from a Catholic orientation, constructed the image of Prestes as an antagonist to Christian values. The results point out that the press played a central role in the crystallization of negative stigmas regarding Prestes, collaborating in the maintenance of the status quo and the construction of a social memory that identified him as the "red peril."